Pensioners worry

Press, 14 May 1987, Page 1

Pensioners worry

Some Hei Hei pensioners are so worried about the huge increases in their leasehold charges that it could kill them, according to one resident. “It’s going to put one or two people down,” said Mr Gilbert Tavendale, a pensioner and former serviceman, affected by the increases. “Some are going to die ... they’re worried sick.” Mr Tavendale, aged 66, said he felt “bloody crook" when he opened his letter from Landcorp revealing an increase in leasehold charges from $24 a year to $742. “I’m not going to pay it,” he said. “I’d sooner cut my throat on Landcorp’s doorstep than pay it”

Mrs June Churchward, a widow of Hei Hei, said she had felt "really sick” ever since receiving her letter. “I can’t sleep properly or anything,” she said. “I get paid $142 a week superannuation. After paying all the bills I’ve got a fat lot left to feed and clothe myself. And now I’ve got to pay an extra $l4 a week rental.” More than 100 Christchurch residents have already received letters notifying increases because their 33-year lease was about to be renewed. Seventy people have received them in recent weeks and more householders will receive them in the next few years. The National Party’s candidate

for Yaldhurst, Mr James Bacon, said there were many people in the electorate “just sitting in their kitchens wondering where on earth they were going to get the money from ”

Mr Bacon accused the member of Parliament for Yaldhurst, Mrs Margaret Austin, of “washing her hands” of the affair. Mrs Austin said she was appalled that Mr Bacon “would stoop to making cheap political capital out of the anxieties of Yaldhurst constituents.” Claims that the increases were due to corporatisation were entirely false, she said. They were due to the expiry of 33-year leases.